Cracks beneath the surface
by WinterzzWarrior
Summary: "Dolls used to be like us, but they lost something or someone so important that they would give up their souls to free themselves from the pain. But, if they learn to love, be loved and accept love, they become humans again." This is about a young girl named Sakura who lost everything, but gained something more than what she had and is now learning how to live again. MultiSaku.


"Dolls were humans once, they laughed, they smiled, they loved and they bled, just like us. But then, one day, those humans, would lose something so, so important, that they would lose their souls. Souls are what connect us to the realm of humanity. Once you lose you it, either because of grief, pain, sadness, terror, or just the need to lose your emotions because you no longer want to feel the pain, you would become a doll. It's a rather sad story, really. But, you know, once a doll feels that they are loved and they themselves feel love, they revert back to becoming human. No longer the hollow, empty shells they were."

Little Naruto looked up to his grandmother from his position on the carpeted floor.

"But, granny, what if the dolls don't feel love, or if they aren't loved? What happens to them?"

His grandmother smiled before closing the book she held preciously in her arms. She put the book away before reaching down to pick Naruto up and placed him on her lap. Naruto then instantly hugged his granny and the little fox plushy he was holding in his stubby arms.

"Then, my dear, they stay dolls, for eternity. You see, dolls are different from us, now that they are dolls. They don't bleed when they are wounded, they don't die or contract any forms of illness. Though they need the basic forms of survival, like eating, sleeping and they even need to learn, but one thing is for sure, they will never die, not unless, they are loved again then they will become like us. Actually, it's very sad and pitiful, you know; spending eternity alone not being able to die even if they want to."

Naruto looked up to his granny and saw her sad smile. Being the naïve, innocent four-year old child he was, started becoming sad himself. His frown was evident and his granny instantly hugged him to prevent him from crying.

"Why do you look so sad and that you are about to cry, was the story that bad?"

Naruto shook his head and looked at the fire dancing in the fireplace. He hugged his plushy tighter and looked at the flames that shone brightly. Casting his eyes away from the fire, he looked up again at his granny's slightly wrinkled face and saw the shadow flickering about.

"Well, granny, the way you said the story was so sad. And you looked like you were about to cry."

The old woman looked at her grandson's innocent face before bursting out laughing. Naruto looked at his granny before pouting and pulling at her sleeve.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing dearest heart, it's just that your innocence is so calming. And I'm sad because, you know, I knew a doll once."

"Really, Granny Himiko knew a doll once? But dolls aren't even real!"

A new voice came and the two occupants looked towards door to find three small young children who were looking at them with wide eyes.

"Dolls are real! Stupid Sasuke-teme doesn't believe it!"

Sasuke, the young child glared at the blonde before running towards the two who were sitting on the chair. The other two young children followed him.

"Sasuke, don't run! Your mummy said so to or you might hurt yourself and cry again!"

Neji Hyuga said, as he looked at his friend. The last one yawned and scratched his cheek.

"Guys, can we just go? I'm sleepy, and I wanna take a nap."

"Shikamaru, Granny Himiko is tellin' me a story, come join us!"

Himiko looked at the four youngsters who were arguing from her chair. She chuckled and called them over.

"Now, now, stop fighting. And yes, Sasuke-chan, dolls are very real."

Sasuke pouted at being called 'Sasuke-chan' but listened anyways. The four young children crowded at the older woman's feet as she began to tell her story.

"Dolls are very real. Though it is uncommon now, they are still here. I knew a doll before, when I was young. He was a servant in my parent's house. They decide to take him in when he had nowhere else to go. We became rather close, but I was the one who approached him at first. I found out that he was a doll when he didn't bleed when he cut himself accidentally while washing the dishes. I asked my parents, and they told me that he was a doll, a being that neither died nor aged. I became rather fond of him and that fondness soon grew to love."

The four seemed interested so listened and prompted her to go on with her fascinating tale.

"Then what happened?"

"Well, we grew up loving each other, then he became human. We were so overjoyed and my parents even approved of our love. But then, disaster came. There was a break in and the man had a gun. My love got shot. I was completely horrified at the blood, and if it had not been sooner that the medics came he would have died."

Sasuke had a confused look on his face. He hugged his knees to his little chest and asked,

"But I thought dolls couldn't bleed or die?"

"They don't but, once a doll feels love or they are loved, they become human so that they could feel that love and become happy to spend the rest of their lives together. He was saved, my precious, but he went into a very long sleep."

Shikamaru raised his head from his laying down position and looked up.

"I know that, my daddy said that it's called a 'coma' or something?"

Himiko nodded and smiled, reaching down to ruffle the boy's hair.

"Yes, you're a very smart child now are you? Well, he went into a coma. I waited for him to wake up."

Neji looked up with big lavender eyes and asked in his child voice,

"Did he wake up?"

Himiko smiled and the children couldn't read the look on her face anymore,

"Yes he did, but, he reverted back to being a doll. I was devastated, but I couldn't do anything about it. So, I waited patiently, until he eventually found his memories again. It was the first time that I saw him cry. In the end, we both found happiness."

The four looked at her and Naruto spoke from the bunch. He raised his hand as if asking a question.

"Granny, where is this person now then? And what's his name?"

Granny smiled knowingly and relaxed in her arm chair.

"That person's name is Takeru, and I think he's in the living room getting drunk with your parents. Heaven knows what he's doing now."

The four looked puzzled for a moment before they all cried out in unison.

"Old grandpa Takeru is that doll?!"

Himiko laughed and nodded. The children still had disbelieving expressions on their aces until Naruto spoke up.

"That's…so COOL! I have the coolest Grandpa in the world! Beat that Teme, my grandpa was a cool dude when he was young and not old and wrinkly like he is today!"

"Who's old and wrinkly, you say my dear boy?"

The boys froze when they heard the undeniable voice of Naruto's Grandfather. Naruto turned around slowly to see the smiling face of Takeru Uzamaki himself, who held a hand behind his back and the other holding a cane in front of him. Naruto swallowed the lump in his throat and scratched the back of his neck.

"Oh, Hey um… Grandpa, granny was just telling us about you!"

Naruto laughed uncertainly as the tall old man went to sit beside his wife who was sighing at the children's silliness. The old man leaned on his cane and held his wife's hand as they listened to Naruto rant on and on about him being a cool grandpa, while the three young boys just listened to their friends undeniable enthusiasm. Takeru just laughed when he heard the story,

"Oh, _that _story, well my dear child, it is very much real, and this is geezer did used to be a doll."

Naruto's eyes sparkled, and then Sasuke chose to speak up,

"Then, if there really are dolls, where are they? How do you know if someone's a doll?"

Takeru looked at his wife for a moment and shared a knowing look. He held the cane tighter in his hands and asked the little boy,

"Why would you want to know that, my dear boy?"

Sasuke looked thoughtful for a moment before shrugging,

"I don't know; I'm just curious I guess. I want to see a real life doll."

Takeru laughed but there was a hidden pain in his voice, that none of the children picked up on. He looked at the flames in the fireplace.

"Well, when one is a doll, they could feel no emotion. They won't be able to bleed and they are much like robots, just following what their master's tell them to do. You see, dolls are considered servants, butlers, maids and because of their hollow personalities, they are perfect for carrying out orders, no matter what they are. But once they turn human, they rise above that, much like how I and Granny Himiko here did."

The four children nodded simultaneously as they looked to and fro between the old couple, after a few seconds, a female voice came from outside the door.

"Children, where are you? Your parents are calling you."

Takeru smiled and looked at the children before standing up.

"Your parents are calling you, so run off now, before they get worried."

The children nodded sadly before standing and running outside. But one child stayed behind for a few moments before running up to the elderly couple and hugged the both of them, albeit only their legs since he was short.

"I really liked your story, Granny Himiko, Grandpa Takeru; I hope you can tell it to me again sometime."

Granny Himiko laughed and smiled and hugged the boy while Takeru patted him on the head.

"Of course, now go on now; we will be following you in a minute."

"Shikamaru, hurry up! What's taking you so long?!"

Naruto shouted outside the room. Shikamaru sighed before detaching himself from Himiko's leg and before he went, he turned around and smiled,

"Oh, and Merry Christmas!"

**0000000000**

Meanwhile, somewhere far from them, a little girl was crying as she held the hands of her dying parents. The ground they were on was red with blood, while smoke was everywhere, making it harder and harder to breathe as minutes passed by, yet the Fire fighters were not yet there. The little girl clutched her parents' hands as they continued to lose large amounts of blood by the minute. The girl's cherry blossom pink hair was now covered with red and her pale skin was black with soot and smoke.

"Mommy, daddy, please, please don't die! Don't leave me alone, I don't want to be alone!"

The cried as she clutched her parents tighter. A few seconds later the fire Department came as well as the paramedics, they surrounded the burning house and started extinguishing the growing fire as to not to let it spread. The girl felt her father held her hand tighter and she looked at them with eyes filled with fear and grief and pain. The man smiled and brushed away a lock from her face,

"Sakura, my dearest Sakura…I love you, I love both you and your mother very much, and you know that right? Sweet, don't cry…m-I and your mother will always be with you, heck, we e-even plan to turn into ghosts…to check on you, so you b-better be good, alright?"

Sakura laughed remorsefully, but the tears kept coming. "How could you still joke when y-you're like this? Daddy is silly, but I love my silly daddy very, very much! So please… don't go."

"Sa-Sakura, my dearest heart…"

Her mother said in ragged tones of breath as the paramedics came and started treating them, but Sakura still held their hands.

"Mommy, will always, always, always love you. Don't forget n-now. Smile and don't cry. Promise me that you will not cry, my h-heart breaks when you do-o. My sweet, I love you, and your daddy, s-so much. Smile my dearest heart…my-"

Sakura felt her mother's hand grew limp and her eyes widened in fear and pain and agony.

"M-me and y-your mom will be going ahead now princess… we will be together again, b-but I hope not too soon…"

Sakura started crying again but was shushed by her father, who placed her hand on her bloody cheek. Sakura held his hand as if it was her life line.

"But, you promised daddy, that-that we would be together forever! You pr-promised…"

The handsome man smiled and shakily looked at his wife's peaceful, smiling and yet dead face and Sakura hugged him. He stroked and petted her hair softly as she cried and clutched his clothes.

"I did my sweet angel; I promised that if any boys got near you, I'd scare them away in a heartbeat. I promised that on your fifth birthday that we would go to your favorite amusement park with mommy. I promised so much, but I guess I won't be able to keep those promises baby. I'm sorry… but me and your mom know that you will be so strong and beautiful and brave and smart…"

Sakura couldn't hear anything but her father's last words, not even the shouting and frantic paramedics that were trying to stop the bleeding from her father's wounds.

"I'm just a bit sad, that we won't be able to be there when you do… It's time for me to go now, sweetie, your mommy is calling me…"

Sakura felt a jolt of sudden grief when he said that and clutched him tighter but she felt his hands grow colder. She cried and cried, but crying couldn't help at all.

"No daddy, please don't go, don't leave me alone! I love mommy and daddy, I love you, don't leave me alone, I beg of you!"

The man smiled at his daughter before kissing the frantic girl on the forehead then he kissed her shaking hands.

"I love you too sweetie, I love you so, so much…"

Sakura's world died as her father closed her eyes and a peaceful expression came over his face. His grip on Sakura loosened and it fell limply on her lap. Sakura couldn't move nor speak, even though the medics were taking her away from her dead parents' bodies. When she did come to, she struggled in the man's arms and reached out for her parents, who were being covered by a white cloth and taken away on a stretcher.

"No! My parents, mommy…daddy! I-"

Suddenly, the young girl paused and started coughing out blood, and the alarmed man who held her shouted for help.

"Hey, help, this young girl, she's-"

Sakura couldn't hear what they were talking about anymore as she started losing consciousness. The blood was coming out of her fast and the medics needed to move and hurry. Sakura suddenly felt cold and she held the man's shirt as they started treating her immediately. Sakura fell into a black abyss and she couldn't feel nor see and hear anything.

She felt herself floating and she started hearing someone speaking to her in a gentle tone.

"**Dear child, can you hear my voice?"**

Sakura answered back in her thoughts,

"_Yes, I can hear you…it's so dark, and why does it feel so painful, my heart feels like it isn't there…"_

"**You lost so much, so-so much, would like me to take away the pain for you my dearest Sakura?"**

Sakura suddenly felt as if all her energy was being drained away from her and she felt as if her emotions were being taken away. She felt so numb.

"_My family, my beloved parents…they're all gone. What should I keep living for now that I am alone? Please, take away all the pain…the pain, but not my memories…"_

The voice seemed surprised as it gave a surprised chuckle.

"**But if you keep the memories, the pain will come back…"**

"_I don't care, just take away the pain, and even if it comes back, I will have been numb by then… Take away the pain, please."_

Sakura pleaded with the voice in her head until she heard a sigh. Her body felt like it was burning now, but it didn't hurt. She just felt so hot.

"**As you wish, from now on, you will feel no pain or sadness or happiness or grief. You will not die or bleed or feel illness. Sakura Haruno, from now on, you are a doll. Your soul belongs to me, until you will learn to love or be loved again."**

At that moment, Sakura came to; she looked at the shocked medics faces as they looked at her form on the stretcher. She looked at where they were staring at and suddenly remembered the stab wound near her heart. She raised her hand slowly and felt it but she couldn't feel pain or blood, she simply felt that there was a crack and a hollow hole from where the stab wound should be. She just gave a sigh and sat up, but she just couldn't feel anything at all. At last, a young blonde, buxom woman came and one medic shakily whispered to the young woman's ear about what they had just witnessed. The blonde's honey colored eyes instantly narrowed and she came forward and kneeled in front of the young child. She inspected the wound but saw nothing but a jagged scar. Sighing as if her predictions were correct, she looked at the girl's emerald eyes and saw only empty irises.

"Go back to your stations and I will take care of the rest here."

The medics looked at her hesitantly before they followed their orders.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama."

The woman who was called Tsunade then turned her attention back to the young four year old girl sitting there. Her eyes softened and she held the hands of the girl gently in her hands. She spoke to her in such a soothing voice that a passing by medic couldn't believe that the harsh and serious Tsunade would care for a young girl who lost everything.

"Little one, my name is Tsunade, what is yours?"

Sakura raised her face from looking at the ground and looked at Tsunade through dead eyes.

"…Sakura, Sakura Haruno."

Tsunade smiled softly and kneeled in front of the girl. She still held her hand and this time she rubbed her thumb across the young girls palm soothingly.

"Do you remember what happened here, Sakura-chan?"

The young girl nodded slowly and Tsunade gave her a sympathetic look. She looked once again into her eyes and asked what she had been thinking about the moment she saw little Sakura's eyes.

"Sakura-chan, when you were…asleep…did you hear anyone talking to you?"

Sakura paused for a moment before answering again.

"Yes, there was a voice, he spoke to me…"

Tsunade narrowed her eyes and asked Sakura one last question.

"Sakura-chan, did this voice…say anything to you? What did he tell you?"

"…He told me, that he could take away my pain…because I asked him, he did. He told me that now, I won't be able to feel pain or bleed, or die. That I won't feel either sadness nor happiness and that if I won't be able to love, be love or accept other's love, I will forever remain…"

Tsunade knew that she was right, since seeing those girl's eyes, she knew what had happened but she wanted to ask Sakura herself.

"Remain a what?"

Sakura looked at her and tilted her head as she spoke in a soft voice.

"A doll…he said that he took away my soul and that I am now a doll…"

Tsunade felt her heart ache for the girl who never knew the consequences of what she asked for. Not knowing what to do, Tsunade hugged the girl to her chest gently, as if afraid to break her. She knew why the girl wanted to become a doll; after all, she had witnessed her parents' death first hand and was stabbed and left to die. She lost everything she cared about in one night, and she didn't blame the girl for wanting to lose the pain. Tsunade cringed at a memory of hers but pushed it aside. Feeling even breathing from the girl, she looked down to see her sleeping quietly. She smiled at the girl before picking her up and walking towards the ambulance. She placed Sakura on the make-shift bed gently and covered her with a blanket. Tsunade called a nurse over and said,

"Call the office; I want files about Sakura Haruno on my desk by this morning. Also, get me the Adoption agency on the phone; I need to speak to them about adopting her."

The nurse looked at her skeptically before nodding and going to do what she was told. Tsunade looked at the nurse scurry away before looking at the young girl and smiling a sad smile. She took out her phone and pressed the number she was going to call. The dial tone ended quickly and the person on the other end of the phone answered quickly. A gruff and husky voice answered in a cheerful tone.

"Hey Tsunade! What's wrong? It's rare for you to call me when you're at work, did something happen?"

Tsunade smiled before sighing and answered the man's question.

"No, nothing's wrong Jiraiya, I was just wondering if you wouldn't mind another one being added to the family."

Jiraiya was silenced for a moment before he answered in a strangely soft voice, a voice he only used when he was sure about something.

"I don't really mind, seriously Tsunade, you are _WAY_ too kind-hearted. So, what's the deal with this one? Family died, the kid's a baby or something special about them?"

"All of it, except for the baby part, her name is Sakura and judging by her appearance I'd say around three to four years old at best."

Jiraiya hummed in reply at the other end until Tsunade spoke again, this time in a hushed whisper.

"The voice…appeared again."

Jiraiya was instantly alert this time and he listened carefully and spoke in a hushed tone.

"What? When, and what did he say to you?"

Tsunade shook her head and replied,

"No, not to me, but to Sakura…she's…"

Tsunade couldn't continue as she looked at the sleeping form of the girl. She bit back a sob as it tried to escape from her lips. She felt the tears form in her eyes but she blinked them away.

"It's too late, she's already become a-a d-doll."

Jiraiya didn't reply since he was too stunned, the last doll he had ever seen and met was over ten years ago and she was a young adult back then, but never has he heard of a young girl, that hasn't even stopped sucking on her thumb yet to be a doll. He suddenly became quiet and said to the almost crying Tsunade.

"Do you need me to pick you and little Sakura-chan up?"

"No, that's not necessary. I and Sakura-chan will be here in the hospital anyways since she needs to have a check-up. I also need to sign the adoption papers before I take her home. Take care of the house for me and what about Shizune?"

"Shizune's sleeping here beside me. We were watching a movie but she dozed off. I was about to put her in her room."

Tsunade nodded to herself and said goodbye.

"Okay, me and little Sakura-chan will be there at home hopefully by tomorrow noon. Bye Jiraiya and don't stay up too late."

"Sure, bye, be safe okay?"

Then Tsunade hung up. She sighed and rubbed her temples to relieve her stress even by a little bit. Looking at the clock, she saw that it was thirty minutes till nine so deciding to do her last rounds that night, she looked at little Sakura one last time and closed the lights and left, unable to see the lone tear that slid down Sakura's cheek.

**0000000000**

**First Chapter has ended… Please review if you like the story, also if you would also give me a few more ideas on how to continue it I would be grateful. Any ways, NONE of the Characters are mine for they are respectfully their authors' creations. **

**Thank you for reading~ **


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